Anthocyanins Profile by Q-TOF LC/MS in Myrtus communis Berries from Salento Area

In the present study, it was defined the complete anthocyanins profile in Myrtus communis berries, a perennial wild shrub typical of the Mediterranean area. To the best of our knowledge, the anthocyanin composition of myrtle berries in above area has never been described. So, because of beneficial effects of these compounds reported during the last decades in the literature, an anthocyanins extraction from berries of Salento area was performed. The pigments were extracted with 0.1% HCl in methanol and purified using a C-18 solid-phase cartridge in about 24 h. High-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-Q-TOF) method was developed optimizing chromatographic parameters in order to obtain an unequivocal identification of anthocyanins. Comparing to the conventional technologies employed for anthocyanins identification (HPLC-DAD and triple quadrupole), the Q-TOF used in this work is a last generation mass spectrometry technique that demonstrated to be able to provide accurate data on anthocyanins identification. The results obtained showed that delphinidin 3-O-glucoside represented about 31.5%, petunidin 3-O-glucoside was about 25.8%, and malvidin 3-O-glucoside represented 24.3% of the total pigments. Other anthocyanins found in minor amounts were delphinidin-pentose (4%), delphinidin-pentose (3.8%), cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (6.3%), petunidin-pentose (0.7%), petunidin-pentose (1.6%), and peonidin 3-O-glucoside (2%). The characterization of the anthocyanins profile in Myrtus communis berries of Salento, characteristic shrubs of Mediterranean region, make these fruits an excellent source of natural antioxidants compounds, which can be very useful in new biotechnological applications in food and pharmaceutical fields. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.